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FINAL MOMENTS: CONTEXTUALIZING ON-FLOOR ARCHAEOLOGICAL MATERIALS FROM CARACOL, BELIZE

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 May 2020

Arlen F. Chase Open the ORCID record for Arlen F. Chase [Opens in a new window]  and
Diane Z. Chase
Arlen F. Chase*
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, Pomona College, 429 N. Harvard Avenue, Claremont, California91711
Diane Z. Chase
Affiliation:
Vice President for Academic Innovation, Student Success, and Strategic Initiatives, Claremont Graduate University, 150 East 10th Street, Claremont, California91711
*
E-mail correspondence to: arlen.chase@pomona.edu
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Abstract

The description and analysis of materials from on-floor deposits that reflect the final activity before site abandonment are key to making a determination as to what happened during the Maya collapse around a.d. 900. On-floor deposits recovered at Caracol, Belize indicate that factors like warfare, the breakdown of the site's market system, and heightened social tensions were in play prior to the abandonment of the site. In an attempt to understand the meaning of these deposits, we first examine why on-floor remains constitute an important data class for archaeology. We next look at the kinds of artifactual materials that are recovered in these deposits and then at the locations and nature of on-floor deposits at Caracol. Finally, we offer our thoughts on what they represent in the broader Maya context.

Type
Special Section: Problematic “On-Floor” Deposits in the Terminal Classic Eastern Maya Lowlands: Implications for the Maya Collapse
Information
Ancient Mesoamerica , Volume 31 , Issue 1 , Spring 2020 , pp. 77 - 87
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press, 2020

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